We'll be adding new stories about the activities taking place as part of BAC 100 throughout 2010.

BAC 100 Publications Travel the World

Virgin Atlantic pilot Bob Ilett has taken copies of The 2010 Book of Aviation Wonder and Take Flight on his travels. Seen here are a Masai warrior and pupils at Desai Memorial Primary School in Nairobi, Bob checking his knowledge at 35,000 feet and with the statue of Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg.

100 Fruit Trees Planted for 2010

Airbus at Filton has sponsored the planting of 100 fruit trees as part of its support for Convention on Biological Diversity's Green Wave initiative and the BAC 100 centenary celebrations. The photo from Bristol Evening Post shows Duncan Grover from Forest of Avon Trust helping pupils at Grove Junior School, Nailsea plant ten of the trees. The school was one of ten in the region to win a mini-orchard in a competition run in the paper.

BAC 100 Gala Dinner

Pictured above is James Durie (GWE Business West) and Mel Kelly (BAC 100/Bristol Cultural Development Partnership) in the entrance to the Wills Memorial Building of the University of Bristol. A dinner was held in the Great Hall at the university on 12 November to thank some of those who have contributed to the BAC 100 programme this year. It brought together people from industry, community heritage groups, museums and archives, local authorities, higher education and the arts, among others. James hosted the table which won the paper aeroplane competition. The aeroplane was launched by Peter Mann, Service Director, Transport, Bristol City Council, and was based on the instructions given in The 2010 Book of Aviation Wonder. Below you can see a photo of the hall before the guests arrived taken by David Rowlson of Component Coating and Repair Services Ltd.

Brislington Enterprise College

The model aircraft club at Brislington Enterprise College was set up to celebrate 100 years of aircraft production in Bristol and to further develop the Made in Bristol theme used in some lessons. Ten students have been looking at past and present aircraft, testing some shop-bought models and then designing and making their own. They have constructed a 1/6th scale model of a Bristol Boxkite which will be suspended from the ceiling in the college's reception. The students referred to The 2010 Book of Aviation Wonder as part of their research. You can see more pictures taken during the project in the Word document BEC Build.

Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust at Flight

Bob Hercock, a volunteer from Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust, came along to a family fun day held at the Flight exhibition at Bristol's City Museum and Art Gallery on 7 November in which science educator Adam Nieman helped visitors make paper aeroplanes and parachutes. Bob is seen here with some of the 'handling objects' lent by the Trust for the day.

Airbus Wins PR Award for BAC 100 Launch

Airbus has won the prestigious Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) West of England PRide Award for the Best Event category for the launch of BAC 100. In this photo from left are James Budgen, Katherine Bennett, Rachael Bloomer and Becky Farmer receiving the award from Lyanna Tsakiris (CIPR) at the PRide dinner at the Marriot Hotel in Bristol in October.

City of Bristol College Students Visit Flight

On 12 October a group of students on the Vocational Access programme at City of Bristol College visited Flight at Bristol's City Museum and Art Gallery. BAC 100 had paid for their transport as part of the education programme. The students have been taking part in the creative writing workshops led by Claire Williamson and wrote poems about their visit. Flight was due to close on 28 November but has been extended to 30 January by popular demand.

BAC 100 Posters

BAC 100 has produced sets of ten aviation posters celebrating the achievements of the West of England aviation industry. These have been distributed via sponsors and partners of the project, libraries in Bristol and South Gloucestershire, schools who have registered for the BAC education programme, Blaise Castle House Museum and Bristol's City Museum and Art Gallery. The photo above shows Luka with his poster of a Bristol Sycamore which has pride of place in his bedroom. Luka fell in love with helicopters when one landed in the park opposite the flats where he lives. Below is a photo of a display using the posters in Filton Library.

The new A350 Xtra Wide Body Landing Gear Systems Test Facility in Filton was officially opened in October and named the Sir George White building in honour of the founder of the Bristol Aeroplane Company 100 years ago. About 30 full-time employees will work in the test facility when the rigs enter the initial test phase in mid-2011.

Military Reconnaissance Centenary Flight

A special event was held on 21 September to commemorate the centenary of the Bristol Boxkite's contribution to the Army Autumn Manoeuvres on Salisbury Plain. Invited guests met at The George Hotel in Amesbury for lunch and an introduction to the afternoon's events. They visited the original British & Colonial hangar and airstrip at Larkhill and watched a flypast of historic aircraft before moving on to the Museum of Army Flying, Middle Wallop. On board the historic flight were Sir George White, grandson of British & Colonial's founder, and David Dickson, the great nephew of the pioneer aviator Captain Bertram Dickson. Photos of the Austers which took part in the flypast were provided by Patrick Hassell of the Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust who was one of the guests at the event.

City Sightseeing Bristol Brings Pupils to Flight

City Sightseeing Bristol donated eight free bus trips to schools so they could visit the Flight exhibition. The first school to take advantage of this offer was Hillfields Primary on Tuesday 21 September. Before they set off the pupils had a paper aeroplane flying competition from the top deck of the bus which was parked in the playground. You can see more photos from their visit on the Hillfields page as well as read some of the poems they wrote inspired by their trip and what they learnt at the exhibition. The other schools who travelled to the exhibition by open-top bus were Filton Hill Primary, New Oak Primary, Little Mead Primary and Weston Park Primary. Our thanks to Warwick Hulme and Nicola Padden of City Sightseeing for arranging this.

BAC 100 large-scale collages

The six BAC 100 large-scale collages were available to view as banners and flags in Bristol city centre in September. They had previously been to the Balloon Fiesta. Two of the banners have now gone to South Gloucestershire Council and another two to Bristol Airport. All six banners will be reunited at the Bristol Aero Collection in Kemble at the end of the year. The artwork was created in two-day workshops led by artist Gloria Ojulari Sule.

Flight exhibition takes off!

Patrick Hassell (Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust) with HRH Duke of Kent, who officially opened the exhibition at a lunchtime event on 17 September, at the engine display in the museum foyer.

Oliver Dearden (Bristol Aero Collection) with the replica Bristol Babe that has been installed underneath the replica Boxkite.

Melanie Kelly (BAC 100/Bristol Creative Projects) explaining the viewing and listening zone where you can watch archive film footage and listen to extracts from oral histories.

Katherine Hann (Exhibition Manager) with HRH and Mary Prior (Lord Lieutenant for Bristol) in the World War Two bunker.

The Brabazon wheels and part of the fuselage outside the bunker entrance.

Sir George White showing the displays about his great-grandfather, founder of BAC.

Clare Menzies and Esther Gray of Ignition, the company that designed and built the exhibition.